Of Pain and Tears
by Black.Thorns.and.White.Tears
Summary: I am scrapping this story and starting over. Read if you dare, but I'm warning you now, it sucks. XP [RyouxOC fic]
1. Chapter 1

Title:Of Pain and Tears

Rating:T

Genre:Angst/Drama

Summary:When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

Disclaimer:I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, the only thing own is the character I created myself. (Kina)

_italics-thoughts_

/...text../-ryou to bakura

/...text.../-bakura to ryou

A/N:First of all, all the yamis have separate bodies, and they all live together (yami and hikari together) with the exception of Ryou and Bakura. Ryou lives in his dad's house. Bakura has his own house (apartment). Second, they all live in New Jersey. Don't ask why. I made up the city/town they live in-Amaron. Just came out of my head. We are also going to assume that everyone is 14, except for Duke who is 16, and Serenity who is 12.

Bakura: Why?

Me: Because I said so!

Bakura: Ok, ok I get it.

Me: On with the fic!

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"See you guys later!" he called. It was friday and school had just gotten out. Ryou Bakura was a ninth-grader at Amaron High School. "Why do they always give us some stupid report to do over the weekend?" Bakura hissed as he and Ryou walked down the sidewalk. "Well, high school teachers give much more homework than we got in middle school Bakura. You will just have to deal with it. I"m going down to the library for research material so i'll see you at school on monday ok?" "Fine" "See you later then" "Bye Ryou!" he said as he walked towards home.

Meanwhile, Ryou was headed towards Amaron library to pick up some books for his research project on an ethnic food for home economics class. At the library, He walked throught the aisles, trying to find some significant research material to use, When he had found a good number of books he sat down at the table and began to flip through them. A while later he finished up the last book and glanced up at the clock. "Wow! I've been here for almost seven hours!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the books and headed for the checkout counter. He handed the librarian his card and then began to pile the books in his bookbag. _I'd better get home before it gets dark out. _He ran out of the library and started up the street towards his house as the street lights began to flicker on. _Almost there, almost there... _Ryou was running so fast down the dark streets that he didn't notice the person running towards him.

(insert crashing sounds here)

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" Ryou looked over at the person he ran into. The street light revealed a beautiful young girl, about his age and height, though maybe an inch shorter, with long, white hair down her back and pretty light brown eyes. She was wearing a white tank top, light blue jeans and white tennis shoes. "I'm ok," he answered "how about you?" "Fine" she repied back. "Here, let me help you up." he said as he stood up. He reached his arm out and grabbed hers. She immediatly pulled back and covered her left forearm with her hand. Ryou looked down and saw blood coming from her arm. "Are you sure you're ok? That looks pretty bad." he questioned her. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"Is that why you were running?" "Yeah. I got attacked by some guys. I was trying to lose the rest of them when I ran into you." she answered softly. "We should get out of here before they catch up . Let's go to my house. I can get you patched up." "I don't know…" she began. "It's the least I can do for running into you like that." Ryou finished. "Ok…I guess." she replied hesitantly, before he helped her to her feet. They both walked quietly down the street to Ryou's house.

TBC

I know, I know, short first chapter. I'm really really sorry about that! I promise i'll try to make the next one longer. Please R+R! Take it easy though. This is my first fanfic. Arigato!

Bakura:Why should they be nice to you?

Me:Because this is my first fanfic and I really don't want to get flamed.

Bakura:But I like fire.

Me:Well, I don't, so all flames will be used to cook my tofu.

Bakura:Yuck! Tofu!

Me:Too bad. I never said YOU had to eat any.

Bakura: Ok then.

Ryou: pops up out of nowhere Review please! puppy dog eyes

Me and Bakura: O.o ...Awwwww...


	2. Chapter 2: Introductions

Title: Of Pain and Tears

Rating:T

Genre: Angst/Drama

Summary: When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

Me: First of all, I want to thank Eyes-of-Crimson for giving my story a good review. It made me so happy! And by the way you didn't spoil anything, I've already seen the battle city episodes. But I keep missing the one where Ryou hurts his arm. TT Seether-Z, you hated it and flamed me, so no thanks. XP If you don't like it, DON'T READ IT! Or at least don't flame me pretty please. Thank you!

Me: Ryou, would you please do the disclaimer for me?

Ryou: Sure. Black.Thorns.and.White.Tears does not own any of the characters in Yu-Gi-Oh, including me.

Bakura: Thank Ra!

Me:Growls at Bakura:

Ryou:looks at the two nervously: On to the fic!

_Italics-Thoughts_

/…text…/-ryou to bakura

/…text…/-bakura to ryou

Chapter 2: Introductions

"So you never got a chance to tell me your name," he said while carefully bandaging her arm. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Kina." "Nice to meet you, Kina. My name is Ryou. How old are you? You look about my age." "I'm 14, almost 14 ½. You?" "Same, but I just turned 14 not two weeks ago." he said with a smile.

"If you are 14 you must be in ninth grade, right?" "I guess I'd be in ninth grade…" she trailed off. "But, don't you go to school?" he asked as the last of her bandages were finished. "No, I've never gone to a school. Unless you count kindergarten…" "Your parents don't make you go?" he asked, confused. "I haven't seen my parents in years. I don't know where they are." she replied, eyes focused on the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry………If you don't live with your parents, who do you live with?" he asked, probing for more information. He was very curious about this girl. "I kind of go wherever the wind takes me. Mostly just stick around here though." "So, you don't have a home?" he asked , shocked.

_Wow, and I thought my life was bad…she doesn't even have a home. _"No, no really. Not a permanent one anyway." _If she doesn't have a home, I wonder how she gets food. She's still probably too young to get a job anywhere. _He looked at her in the light, and for the first time he noticed how thin she was. You could almost see every bone in her body. It shocked and scared Ryou to think of what she must have been through. _She must not eat a lot to be that thin. I mean, you can almost see right through her. _

"I'm sorry if this offends you, but what exactly do you eat?" Ryou said. "Well, for starters, I don't eat a lot. Not a much as a person probably would, but I do eat. I get money for my job. _She has a job? I wonder what she does?… _"What exactly do you do at your job?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer. "Oh, that." she began. She reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out a beautiful green purple art glass bracelet accented with silver spacers and a clasp.

"Wow. That's beautiful. Where did you get it.?" he questioned, very curious as to what the answer might be. _Maybe she works at a jewelry store… _"I made this myself. This is my job. I make jewelry and sell it for money." she replied. "You made that? That's amazing!" he exclaimed causing her to blush a little bit, but not enough for him to notice. He eyes were fixated on the bracelet that she hadjust handed him to look at.

"Yeah, I make lots of things like that. I take the money I earn and split in half. Half for food, half to buy new supplies. It works pretty well." Kina stated. "Even though you eat you still look too thin. Would you like something to eat?" Ryou offered. "No thank you, I'm fine. Besides, I don't think you would have anything for me to eat. I'm a vegan." she replied.

"Really? I'm a vegetarian. I tried to be a vegan, it was too hard for me. I ended up eating nothing but salad." (A/N: For this fic Ryou is going to be a veggie. I know that he really isn't but just work with me here people.) "Wow, I've never met another vegetarian." she replied with a yawn. "You must be tired from all that running. Why don't you stay here tonight?" Ryou asked casually. "Oh no! I wouldn't want to impose on you. I've already stayed here too long." she exclaimed as she stood up.

She quickly thanked him and headed towards the door, but he got there first. "I don't want you to go back out there. It's almost too dark to see and what will happen if you run into that gang again?" "That is very nice of you, but I really have to go." Kina said. She was trying to find a way past him, but it was proving difficult. "I don't think you understand. I'm not letting you leave.

She stared at him, shocked and took a few steps back. _What if doesn't let me go? This could be bad! _"W-why not?" she asked. "I don't want you to get hurt." he replied, concern showing in his voice. It seemed to calm her down a bit. He walked towards her and looked her in the eye. "Don't you trust me?" Ryou asked. "Well, we just met…but I guess I could trust you…" Kina replied.

"Then please stay just one night. I promise you can leave in the morning if you want. Although, you can stay as long as you wish. I don't mind." "Ok, I guess I will stay." she replied. "Good, you can stay in my bed or the couch if you like." He turned to go get everything ready for her. "The floor will be fine for me, thank you." "Well, ok I guess. As long as you're ok. _How could she want to sleep on the floor if she could sleep in a bed or on the couch?_

I'll get some blankets and pillows and…" he turned back around to find her curled up in a ball on the floor, already fast asleep. _Guess there's no arguing with her now. _He went and got a blanket from the hall closet and laid it on top or her, careful not to wake her. As he got closer, he noticed she seemed to be purring like a kitten. _How cute._

Ryou walked down the hall to his room to get ready for bed. He picked out a T-shirt and some pajama bottoms and got changed. _She's going to need a permanent housing arrangement eventually. Especially if she goes to school, which I am going to fix tomorrow. _Ryou climbed into bed and turned off the light. _Goodnight Kina, _he thought before drifting off to sleep.

TBC

Yay! My second chapter is done! I know I didn't put Bakura in yet, but he will come in later. This is sort-of mary-sueish, but it will get better. I promise! Don't kill me! Please R+R! Thank you!

Bakura:Yeah, why didn't you put me in yet?

Me: Kina and Ryou need to get to know each other a little bit BEFORE you come in and scare her off.

Bakura: I would NOT scare her off. :plays darts with daggers:

Me: suuurrreee you wouldn't….

Bakura: Review please, but no flames. They will again be used to cook tofu. Yuck…


	3. Chapter 3: Memories

Title: Of Pain and Tears

Rating: T

Genre: Angst/Drama

Summary: When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

Before I start the fic I want to say thank you to Eyes-of-Crimson, AnimeNymph, and Andyouthinkimcrazy for giving me such good reviews::gives cookies to nice reviewers: Also, I try to update my stories as soon as I can, but if you notice I'm being really lazy and not updating it's probably because of all the stupid homework. XP Just drop me an e-mail reminder to get my lazy butt up and start updating. LOL. Sorry it took so long to update this one! Don't kill me::hides in closet: Now for the disclaimer!

Me: BAKURA!

Bakura: WHAT?

Me: Do the disclaimer for me please.

Bakura: Sure. No problem.

Me: Ok then. :walks out of room:

Bakura: Yeah right like I'm going to do the stupid disclaimer. She hasn't even put me in the story yet. She's all "We have to let Kina and Ryou spend time together first." Bah. Forget them. HIKARI!

Ryou: Yes?

Bakura: Do the disclaimer.

Ryou: Why? I thought she said you had to do it.

Bakura: Yes, she did. Now I'm making you do it. :holds up knife:

Ryou::sweatdrops: Uh, Black.Thorns.and.White.Tears doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh so don't try to sue her because you won't get anything.

Me::pops up randomly: To the story!

Ryou and Bakura::sweatdrop:

/ryou to bakura/

/bakura to ryou/

_thoughts, sound effects, or writing_

"speech"

&&&&&&&-scene change

Chapter 3: Memories

Ryou opened his eyes slowly and looked around the dark room. He turned to the alarm clock to see what time it was. It read 3:27 AM in bright blue letters. "Ugh." _Wow it's early! I'm so tired, and thirsty. _He pulled the covers down and slid out of bed. Ryou was going to the kitchen for a glass of water before going back to bed. He avoided all the spots on the floor that creaked as he made his way down the hallway. He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Pouring himself a glass of water wasn't as easy as it sounded. Since it was dark in the house, he missed the glass a few times before actually filling it up. _Finally! _Ryou drank the cold water and headed back down the hallway.

He was about to turn the corner into his room when he heard a soft sound coming from the living room. _What is that? _He walked slowly into the living room and looked around. A small figure in the corner caught Ryou's eye. He walked closer and saw that it was Kina, curled up in a ball in the corner, crying. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and had her arms wrapped around them, hiding her face. Her hair loosely fell over her arms and her face. "Kina? Are you ok?" he asked. She lifted her head up slightly and saw Ryou standing there. "Ryou! What are you doing up? Did I wake you? I'm sorry!" she replied, a look of fear in her eyes.

"No, you didnt wake me. I just got up to get a drink. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Ryou asked. He walked over to where she was sitting and knelt down beside her. "If I told you, you would think it was stupid." she answered, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes but failing miserably. "No I wouldn't. I promise. You can tell me." _I can't help her out if I don't know why she is upset in the first place. _"Ok. It was about a dream I had." she said. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I dreamt about when I was little and I lived with my dad. We were really happy, but then he had to give me up because he was too young and didn't have enough money to take care of us both. It makes me sad because I know that we will probably never be happy like that again." Kina finished as a fresh set of tears started to run down her cheeks.

Ryou picked her up gently and placed her in his lap. She started to cry on his shoulder as he held her gently and tried to calm her down. _It reminds me of my dad, I almost never get to see him. She is so unhappy, I wish there was some way I could help. But right now what she really needs is good night's sleep. And there is no way you can get a good night's sleep on the floor. _After a few minutes, she was sleeping in his arms. Ryou stood up and carried her down the hallway to his room. He placed her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He went around the other side and climbed under the covers. _I hope she is going to be ok..._ He laid down and went back to sleep. The clock read 3:45 AM in bright blue letters.

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Ryou awoke the next morning hoping Kina stayed with him through the night. He looked over and saw that she wasn't there. _Maybe she just went to sleep on the couch, _he thought before tuning over to see what time it was. Although, instead of seeing his clock, there was a plate with pancakes and eggs and a glass of orange juice on his nightstand. He looked over at the note sitting beside them. Ryou opened it and it read,

_Ryou,_

_I'm sorry for acting so stupid last night. _

_I made you breakfast to say thank you for taking care of me._

_I wasn't sure what you like to eat so I guessed. _

_I hope you don't mind, and I hope my cooking isn't too bad. _

_Thanks again. _

_-Kina_

_Aww. That was really sweet of her. And she is a good guesser. I love pancakes and eggs for breakfast! I wonder where she learned to cook. ? Now it's time for my surprise. I hope she didn't leave yet. _He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and climbed out of bed. Ryou hurried down the hallway only to find Kina asleep on her blanket in the living room. _Yes! She didn't leave. This is perfect. _He went back into his room and got dressed and ready. He finished his breakfast, grabbed his keys, wrote a quick note and hurried out the door.

(about an hour later)

_Yawn. _Kina sat up and looked around. _Morning already? Wow. That was fast. _She stood up and grabbed the blanket she had been lying on. She quickly folded it and put it on the couch. _I wonder where Ryou is. Maybe he is still sleeping. _Kina walked down the hall to his room and knocked on the door. No answer. She cracked the door open and saw that he was already up. She went in and saw a note on the bed. She opened it up and it said,

_Kina,_

_Don't worry if I'm not here when you wake up. _

_I just went out to run some errands._

_Thank you very much for breakfast. _

_Your cooking is not bad at all._

_I enjoyed it very much._

_I will probably be back soon._

_Here is a key to the house if you need to go out and do something._

_Just remember to lock up when you leave._

_See you soon._

_-Ryou_

_This is great! I don't know when he'll be back so I'd better get started. Then I can go out and get the rest of my stuff. _Kina put the key in her pocket and began making Ryou's bed. Once she had finished, she picked up the dishes and took them into the kitchen. After about twenty minutes of washing and drying dishes, Kina scribbled down a note for Ryou if he happened to come home before she did. She set the note on the counter next to the clean dishes and headed outside, locking the door behind her. (A/N: I know I know lots of notes, they are playing note tag today. But don't worry, they will be together shortly.)

(about a half an hour later)

Ryou walked through the door to the house and put down the things he was carrying. He looked around for Kina and saw the note on the counter, and the clean dishes.

_Ryou,_

_I got your note and I went out to get some of my stuff._

_I hope you don't mind. _

_I finished these dishes and I tried straightening up a bit. _

_I didn't put the dishes away though because I didn't know where they went. Sorry._

_I will see you in a little bit I guess._

_-Kina_

_She really is a sweet girl. I hope she is happy with my surprise. Kina has already done so much for me. I just want to do something for her. _He sat down and looked up at the clock. It was almost 12:30. _She will probably be back soon. Maybe I can convince her to go out to eat. _Ryou put the dishes away and waited for Kina to come home.

TBC

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Okay, chappie 3 is done! It didn't take as long as the others but I also don't think it's as long as the others. I tried to give a little bit of a background on my charecter Kina without giving away the whole story. I know I didn't develop her very well, but I need her to be kind of mysterious. Sorry! I am REALLY sorry to all the people who wanted to see Bakura in this chapter! I fully intended to put him in here, but I wanted to save the "big surprise" for the next chapter. Don't worry, he will be in chapter 4. I promise. Also, I know this story can be kind of confusing so if you're confused, ask me what's going on.(P.S. If you are confused it is due to my poor writing, so I'm sorry in advance.) I'll try my best to explain. Please R&R! Arigato::bows:

Bakura: What the hell!

Me: What?

Bakura: I can't believe those freaks! First they are always putting Ryou in the background, now they take us off the air!

Me: Calm down Bakura. They are probably just trying to make room for Yu-Gi-Oh GX. It looks like it has nothing to do with you guys but they are just trying to be fair. They'll put you back on eventually. _I hope._

Bakura: But how am I supposed to take over the world without being on tv?

Me: Hey, didn't you turn good?

Bakura: Well yeah, but it doesn't mean I can't be a little bad now and then.

Me: Fine, but no taking over the world.

Bakura: Ok, I'm bored with that idea anyway. :starts playing with knife:

Me::looks at Bakura nervously: Ok then...Please review, but no flames please. Sorry if you thought it was terrible. (P.S. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am really addicted to the word "sorry", so is Kina(in the story), because technically my name is Kina. I just thought it would be neat to have a charecter named after me. Sorry if that is really selfish or stupid, and sorry for anthing else I missed) See you in Chapter 4!


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise

Title: Of Pain and Tears

Rating: T

Genre: Angst/Drama

Summary: When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

First of all, I want to say Arigato! to all the nice people who reviewed my story! As I promised, Bakura will be in this chapter. He won't be huge but he will be here. Sorry if that disappoints some people, but I'm trying to make everyone happy. Oh yeah, and there might be quite a few author's notes in this chapter because I will have to explain lots of stuff. I really am trying to make my chapters more detailed, but give me time. And yes, I will be including all of yugi-tachi in this fic. I think...I will try anyway. Sorry to all you people who hate Tea, because she is going to be in this fic and she is going to be nice and friendly. No I don't like her friendship speeches either, but she is ok. And I need her for this fic because of my lack of imagination. Again, sorry. I will also be using some Japanese terms in this story so I will provide translations to you people who don't have a clue what I'm saying. But that will most likely come later seeing as how almost none of the characters know how to speak it.

Me: Bakura, since you won't do the disclaimer, I'll have Ryou do it.

Bakura: But I will do it this time! Let me do it! Please?

Me: Ok, ok. Whoa, wait did you just say please?

Bakura: YAY!

Ryou: But I want to do the disclaimer!

Bakura: But I asked first, and I said please.

Ryou::puppy dog eyes:

Bakura: That's not fair! He's using the puppy dog eyes of doom!

Me: FINE! Both of you will do the disclaimer. Sheesh.

Ryou and Bakura: YAY! Black.Thorns.and.White.Tears does not own Yu-Gi-Oh, the state of New Jersey or anything else she randomly sticks in the story.

Me: Much better. Now let's start the story.

/hikari to yami/

/yami to hikari/

_thoughts, sound effects and writing_

&&&&&&-scene change

Chapter 4: Surprise!

It was about 1 o' clock in the afternoon and Kina was walking back to Ryou' s house with her blue duffle bag and a small grocery bag in hand. She had picked up some things at the local store. She went up the front walkway and went to open the door. Kina found it was unlocked and it opened with a creak. _Ryou must have gotten back before I did. _She walked in the house and put her bag down in the corner before closing the door. "Hey Kina." Ryou said popping up out of nowhere. "Eeep!" Kina must have jumped about a foot in the air before she turned around and saw him standing there. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." "It's ok. No big deal." "I just got back here about a half an hour ago. Thanks for cleaning up the house a bit. You didn't have to you know." he told her. "But I love cleaning. I probably sounds stupid but I love to keep things organized." she replied.

"I see you brought some of your things with you." he said eyeing the bags in the corner. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind. I just thought it would be better if I had some things here for now." Kina replied. "I don't mind at all. Actually, I kind of have a surprise for you. I hope you like it." Ryou said, smiling. _I hope she doesn't mind what I did. I can tell from the way she was talking about her things she doesn't plan on staying, but I hope she will change her mind after I tell her my plans. _"

A surprise for me?" she asked, eyeing him curiously. _What kind of surprise is he talking about? Oh, I hope he didn't go too out of his way for me. He has already done so much for me. _"Well, I thought about what you said about not being to school, and I went down to the high school and talked to the principal. He said he would love for you to come there to school. They will test you to see were you are and put you in the classes that will best fit your abilities." he stated. "Really? I could go to school?" Kina asked, hopeful. "Yes." Ryou replied. "Wait, wouldn't I have to give a home address to go there? And I would have to get proper school clothes." she questioned him with doubt.

"Well, I think that if you stay here with me, you could you use this as your home address. And the principal said you can come to the school and pick up a uniform anytime." "That would be great but I wouldn't want to be a burden to you." she said. "I want you to stay with me. It would be good for you to be able to go to school. I don't mind you staying here." "Really?" Kina asked. Ryou nodded his head yes. She ran over and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Ryou. Thank you so much! This is great!"

"No problem. All that's left to do is go down to the school and talk to the principal. You can get your uniform too. And all of the books you will need." he explained. "We can down right now if you want to." "Can I get changed before we go?" Kina asked him. "Sure. I'll wait for you." "Ok, I'll just be a minute."

With that, she dashed off and started digging through her bag furiously. He chuckled to himself softy. _Wow. That's the first time I've seen her smile since I met her. Definitely an improvement. She sure seems excited about going to school. Well, practically has never been there, so I guess it's pretty exciting for her. I hope she does well. _Just then Kina came around the corner wearing a new pair of jeans, a long sleeved white shirt that came down to her fingertips, and her white tennis shoes. She was carrying a light blue denim purse with several patches on it. "All ready." she said.

They walked out the front door and started down the sidewalk towards the school. "I hope this isn't too long a walk for you. It's not that far away." he said. "Don't worry, I'm used to walking." she replied. They walked along for about fifteen minutes and the school started to come into view. They were almost to the front walkway when Kina suddenly stopped in her tracks. Ryou turned around and looked at her curiously. "Kina? Are you ok?" he asked. "Uh, Ryou, why are there two of you?" she questioned. "Two of me? What-" he began. "Hikari!"

He looked down the street and saw Bakura coming towards them. _Oh great. Of all times for him to pop up, it has to be now. Ugh. _Bakura caught up with them and Kina just stared in amazement. "I knew you liked school Ryou, but coming on a Saturday? That seems a little much." Bakura joked. "No Bakura, I am just showing Kina around the school. She's new here. From, uh, out of town. She's going to be in our class most likely." Ryou replied.

He saw the look on Kina's face and started to explain. "Kina, this is Bakura. He is my yami." "You hold a millennium item?" she asked him. "Yes, I have the Millennium Ring. But how did you know about the items?" he questioned her. "Uh, lucky guess?" she said, a bit nervous. "Lucky guess huh?" Bakura looked at her suspiciously. /Are you sure about her Ryou? Maybe she is trying to steal the Items./No way. She wouldn't do that. She probably just heard about them somewhere.//Hmm... or .../ Bakura took the Millennium Ring and held out. It started glowing and two of the points lifted up and pointed to Kina's purse. "Uh-oh" She took a step backwards. "Just as I thought. You have a Millennium Item." Bakura smirked at her.

"You have a Millennium Item, Kina?" Ryou asked her. "Yeah." She bent down and opened her purse. What she pulled out resembled a small gold jewelry box with the Eye of Horus on it. (A/N: I just made up this Millennium Item and all of it's weird powers so don't sue me.) "I have the Millennium Box. It is very dangerous. Although it can give life it can also take life. I can't use it yet either. Or I should say I couldn't use it." she explained. Bakura picked the item up and looked at it curiously. "How do you open it up?" he asked? "Can I borrow your Millennium Ring please?" Kina asked.

"Whatever." He handed it over to her and watched closely. She took the Millennium Ring and put the middle point inside a hexagonal-shaped hole in the back of her Box. She twisted it once to the left and twice to the right. The top of the Box popped open. She took the Millennium Ring out and handed it back to Bakura. "See? I needed the Millennium Ring to make it work. That's why I couldn't use it." she explained to the pair.

"So if you have an Item, do you have a Yami?" Ryou asked. Just then a girl with long, curly black hair and green eyes wearing a red tank top, black pants and black shoes popped up, startling Ryou a bit. "Liz, I told you not to scare him." she scolded. "This is my yami, Elizabeth." Kina told them. "How many times have I told you NOT to call me that!" She practically yelled. "Sorry Liz." "Much better." she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't mean to be rude but don't hikaris and yamis usually look alike?" Ryou asked. "Well, we-" Liz started, but Kina cut her off. /You can't tell them the truth. You know why we can't.//But I don't think you little goody-two-shoes friend over there wants us to lie./Just this once//Fine, but you do the talking./ "Well, we used to look alike but Liz got tired of it and decided to dye her hair and change her style a bit." Kina finished for her.

"Yeah, I'm so glad I got my own body. Now I don't have to wear all the girly clothes you wear Ryou." Bakura said. "My clothes are NOT girly!" Ryou retorted. Liz was laughing because of the whole thing. "Liz! Be nice!" Kina hit Liz lightly with her purse. "humph" "Well, I hate to interrupt, but we really do have to go meet the principal right now. Liz do you want to come to school too? I'm sure Mr. Thomas wouldn't mind another student." Ryou offered. "No way in heck you are going to get me in there. Kina might want to go but I sure as heck don't."

"Fine." "Hey Bakura, why don't you show Liz around town while Kina and I check out the school." Ryou said. "Sure, whatever." he replied and they started off down the street. "Are you sure that was a good idea?" Kina questioned him. "Yeah. He's ok. Plus I really don't think the principal would be happy to see him. He got expelled for filling the sprinkler system with pudding and then setting the fire alarm off." he explained. Kina laughed at the thought of the entire student body covered in pudding.

They met the principal in his office and discussed the plan. "Well Kina, come with me and we will get you a uniform. What size do wear?" he asked. "I wear a 00 in almost everything." she said. "Well, uh, ok. Here you go.'' He handed her a navy blue skirt, a white blouse, a matching navy blue jacket, white knee socks and navy blue ballet flats. "Now for your books. This is the school store. I'm going to give you the books from all the basic 9th grade classes, the teachers will test you and see where you are. They may want to move you back to the middle school because you have missed so many grades but for now you will be here. You will start school on Monday." "Thank you Mr. Thomas" she said as he handed her her schedule. They took a short tour of the school, then left.

Kina and Ryou walked back to his house and waited for their yamis to come back. "So, what did you think of the school, Kina?" Ryou asked her. "It was kind of big, but the principal seemed pretty nice." she replied. "I really hope you enjoy it there. It's not too bad." Ryou said. "I think I will like it too." she said.

TBC

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Yay! Done with chapter 4! I threw in a couple of twists to keep to keep you guessing. So what did you think? I promise I will update as soon as I can. Please R&R and tell me whether this chapter was any good or not.

Bakura: Thank Ra! I was really getting bored.

Liz: Were you surprised that I showed up?

Bakura: No.

Liz: Yeah you were. I saw the look on your face. You looked like a deer in headlights. Hahaha!

Bakura: No I didn't. **Elizabeth...** :snicker:

Liz: ARGH! DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT::strangles Bakura:

sweatdrop

Ryou: I was surprised you had a Millennium Item, Kina.

Kina: Yeah, I thought you'd be.

Ryou: Anyway, please review. no flames though please. :puppy dog eyes of doom:


	5. Chapter 5 First Day of School

Title: Of Pain and Tears

Rating: T

Genre: Angst/Drama

Summary: When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

Well, here we are in the fifth chapter of my first ever fanfic. Ah, the memories. The terrible summary, the lack of knowledge, and of course, my crappy writing skills. Well, it's pretty good considering that my life is nothing short of a living hell. I have been out of school for 6 weeks because I've been sick for 6 months and I have tried two different schools already. I have finally found one but now I have to come up with the money for the tuition. All the while I've been getting yelled at by my parents. Did I mention that when I saw the tuition amount I almost fell over? ((o))((o) Oh, what a wonderful life I have. Not. But anyway, you didn't want to hear about my life you wanted to read my new chapter, so here it is. (Also, I am skipping right past Sunday because I am too impatient to tell the story day to day. Please don't hurt me!)(A/N: We are going to assume that Bakura and Liz went back to his apartment for the night.)

Bakura: Black.Thorns.and.White.Tears doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters. She only owns the broken heart diary she writes in.

Ryou: I think we should cheer her up.

Liz: The only thing that would cheer her up is more people reading her story. So READ PEOPLE, READ::gives death glares:

Ryou: What she meant to say was enjoy the story and thank you to all the nice people who reviewed it so far!

Liz: No I di-

Ryou::cuts Liz off: Of course you did. Now let's start the story.

/hikari to yami/

\yami to hikari\

_thoughts, sound effects or writing_

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#flashback#

Yugi-tachi- yugi and friends

Chapter 5: First Day of School

5:00 AM

Ryou slowly opened up his eyes and saw two big brown eyes staring into his. It startled him a bit and he sat up in bed. Kina was standing next to his bed, fully dressed in her school uniform, with all her books, holding out a tray with waffles topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream. "I made you breakfast!" she told him. As if it wasn't totally obvious to him already. "Um, thanks." he said with a yawn. "You do know that we don't have to leave for 2 and a half hours, right?" he asked her. "Yeah, I just don't want to be late for my first day. I've already read my textbooks twice, and practiced most of chapters one, two and three in Algebra I. I also made your breakfast and lunch, and I finished cleaning up the rest of the house." she said with an enthusiastic smile on her face. She looked just like a child who had opened up their presents on Christmas morning. Ryou liked to see her happy, but she seemed tired at the same time.

"Wow, you really take school seriously. And thank you for making me breakfast and lunch and for cleaning up. But you didn't have to. I would prefer you having enough sleep. When did you get up anyway?" he asked her, as he finished his waffles. "Oh I was up long before the sun came up. Two-ish I think. I was tired of staring at the ceiling." Kina replied. "I don't mean to be rude, but I think you should start sleeping in a little bit later. You will be too tired in school." "I understand." she said as she took the plate back into the kitchen, and put it in the dishwasher.

_Well, I might as well get up. She is teaching me good habits; I'm usually running out the door at the last minute. But she really should try to sleep more. It's probably because she sleeps on the floor. That can't possibly be comfortable. No wonder she couldn't sleep. _He got out of bed and started making it. He saw his uniform hanging on the closet doorknob and went over to get it. Ryou took a shower, changed into his school clothes, and went into the living room. He got some of his books out of his schoolbag. _Oh No! I forgot to make my ethnic food dish for home-economics class! I'm going to fail the course! _

Ryou ran to the kitchen and saw a dish sitting on the counter. "What is this?" he asked to nobody in particular, looking at it with great curiosity. "Oh, that." Kina said, coming around the corner. "I saw your report when one of the books slid out of your schoolbag. It said you had to make the dish and bring it in today. I saw you hadn't made your tacos from Mexico, so I made them for you. I used a meat substitute instead of beef because you are a vegetarian." "Thank you so much! You totally saved my project! What can I do for you?" he asked, astounded she had done this for him. "Well, you can answer my question." she said.

Ryou looked at her curiously. "What is it?" he asked her. "Well, do you think your teacher would mind if I brought something in too?" "Um, I don't think so. Why? Did you make something?" "Yeah." Kina said, turning towards the refrigerator. She opened it and pulled out a tray covered with foil. She took the cover off and it revealed at least 100 assorted pieces of sushi. She set it on the counter and looked at Ryou's shocked expression. "I made cucumber rolls, carrot rolls, avocado rolls, California rolls, and dragon rolls. I also put some wasabi and ginger on the side. I made 20 of each so there is enough for everybody. I even did a short report on it and how it plays a roll in the culture of Japan." Kina explained, speaking with a slight accent.

"Where did you get the ingredients?" Ryou asked, still shocked that she had managed to pull this off. "Oh, I went to the grocery store early." She looked really excited about her first school project. "I'll put everything back in the refrigerator, so it will be ready to go when we leave." she said. "Ok then, I'm going to go get ready for school." Ryou said as he walked out of the kitchen. He put his books back into his schoolbag and set it on the chair. Then he went into the bathroom and washed his face, dried his hair and brushed his teeth before heading back to the living room.

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7:30 AM

Kina and Ryou walked down the sidewalk towards the school carrying their books and their food for class. They approached the school building and sat down by the big oak tree out in front of the school, waiting for the bell to ring. A couple of minutes passed and then Yugi-tachi walked up to them. "Hey you guys!" Ryou called out to them. "Hey Ryou!" Yugi called back. The rest of the gang (Yugi, Yami, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Malik, and Duke) stood next to them and starting chatting.

"Hey Ryou, who is your friend?" Joey asked him. "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. This is my friend Kina. She is a new student here. This is her first day. Kina, these are my friends Yugi, Yami, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Malik, and Duke." he said as he introduced them. "Hi, nice to met you." Kina greeted them. "Nice to meet you too Kina." Yugi said. Joey looked over at her and asked, "So you're new here huh? What school did you come from?"

She lowered her eyes to the ground at the question. "Umm..." Ryou noticed she wasn't sure how to answer the question, and stepped in. "Hey guys, could I talk to you alone for a second?" he asked. "Sure" they answered. When they were far enough out of earshot Joey was the first one to start asking questions. "Hey, why won't she tell us where she's from? Is she hiding something?" "No Joey. She's probably just worried about what you'll think of her." Ryou answered.

"Why would she be worried about what we'll think of her?" Tea asked. "She's just getting used to living here, in a house no less. She didn't have a home before this weekend. I ran into her Friday coming home from the library. She needed somewhere to stay so I'm letting her stay at my place." Ryou said. "What about her parents?" Tristan questioned.

"She hasn't seen them for a long time. She said she used to live with her dad when she was little but I guess she hasn't seen him for a long time. She didn't mention anything about her mom. Since she is staying with me, I decided to enroll her in school. She hasn't really been to school to before. She was pretty excited about going this morning. She was up at 2 AM reading her textbooks, then she made both of our home-economics projects. She is going to wear herself out if she doesn't start getting enough sleep." Ryou explained.

Everyone looked shocked hearing this, especially Duke. He looked over at Kina. She was sitting by the tree, reading one of her books. _No way. It can't be..._ "I am very curious as to where she came from, since when she was talking to me this morning, she had a slight accent. Sometimes she mixes up her words. I don't think she speaks English very well." he continued. _RIIIIIIINNNGGGGGGG! _

"There's the bell, we'd better get to class." Ryou walked over to Kina and they gathered up their stuff and headed to their first class, Home Economics. They walked into the room and took their seats. "I hope everyone remembered their projects." the teacher said. "Um, hi. I'm a new student and I also brought a project for today. I hope you don't mind." Kina said. "New student huh? Oh here we are! Kina? Well let's see what you have."

Kina set her project down and uncovered it. "Oh my! Did you make this yourself?" the teacher asked. Kina nodded her head yes. "I have a report on it too." She held it out for the teacher to see. "Ok then Kina. Set your project on the table in the back next to the others, and take a seat next to Ryou. My name is Mrs. Berlin if you have any questions." Kina walked to the back and put her project on the table next to Ryou's, and took her seat.

Home economics went by fast as the students got to sample different foods from other cultures. Many people comments on how different they were from each other. They hurried out the door when the bell rang. Ryou and Kina met up in the hallway and he took a look at her schedule. "Hmm, let's see. We both have Gym next. I'll show you where you are supposed to go." They walked down the hall towards the lockers rooms and Ryou saw Tea going the same way.

"Tea!" "Oh, hey. What's up? "she asked. "I was wondering if you could help Kina out with Gym class since we have separate locker rooms." he asked her. "Sure no problem. Come on Kina, we'll go meet the gym teacher and get changed." With that the girls walked down the stairs to the women's locker room as Ryou headed off in the opposite direction to meet up with Yugi, Yami, Joey and Tristan.(Malik and Duke had other classes)

Tea lead Kina down to the locker room where the gym teacher, Mrs. Sandry was standing. "Mrs. Sandry, this is our new student Kina." "Oh, hello there. Tea you run along and get changed, I'll take care of this. Hello Kina, welcome to gym class. Here is your gym uniform." She handed Kina a pair of navy blue sweat pants and a white T-shirt. "Get changed and go out that door over there to the gym." Kina took the clothes and went over to a cubicle to change. When she was done she went out to the gym.

She went over to Ryou and asked what they were going to do in gym class. "Well right now we are focusing on team sports." he said. "Ok everyone make two teams, we are going to play volleyball today." Mrs. Sandry called out. Naturally, Kina and Ryou were on the same team. _I wonder what volleyball is... _she thought to herself as she followed Ryou onto the court.

She watched the first person hit the ball and stared at it as it went back and forth across the net. A person on the other team hit it towards her, she watched as it came towards her and at the very last moment, she ducked and covered her head with her hands. The ball bounced off of her and rolled over to the corner. Ryou went over to get the volley ball then went over to Kina.

"It's ok, it's just a volleyball, it doesn't hurt." he said to her as she stood up. "So what am I supposed to do with it?" she asked him. She was totally clueless as to why people would want to hit this 'volleyball'. "Well, the object of the game is to hit it to the other side of the net. A person from the other team tries to hit it back. If they miss we get a point. If they hit it over the net, we have to hit it back, if we miss, they get a point." he explained. He used hand motions to show her how to hit the ball. "Oh, I get it now, I think." she said.

Ryou took his place in the corner and served the ball to the other team. One of the players on the other side hit it back over the net and Kina took a turn a hitting it. She hit it successfully back over the net to the other team. They missed and her team got a point. "Good job." Ryou told her. The game went pretty well after that. Kina and Ryou's team ended up winning by one point. (A/N:Sorry if the volleyball thing wasn't accurate. I'm really not that great of a player myself. The first time I played, I had huge bruises on my arms from hitting the ball. I lost too.TT)

Both teams went back into the locker rooms and changed, then came out into the hallway to go to 3rd period. Ryou and Kina met up and went to Algebra together. They shared this class with Yami, Tristan, Joey, Malik and Duke. She introduced herself to the teacher, Mr. Rome. (A/N: Don't mind the freakish names I give the teachers. I just made them up.) He told her to take the seat in the back, and try to keep up. He was aware she hadn't done any schoolwork previously and was worried she wouldn't be able to handle this.

"Okay people. I usually give out a work sheet to do but today I am only going to give you one problem." the teacher began. Sounds of happiness and cheers were heard throughout the room. Especially from Joey. He wasn't the biggest fan of math. "But this problem is very, very difficult. I usually give it to the seniors and most of them have yet to figure it out. If anyone gets it right, there will be no homework for the rest of the week." he explained. "Bring it on teach! I'll figure it out!" Joey shouted.

The teacher walked over to the board and pulled up the overhead projector screen. (A/N: You know one of those thingys that the teacher pulls down for the overhead projector. It's right above the board usually.) It uncovered a problem like no other. It covered almost half the board and it had symbols that the class had never even seen before. "Hey, that's no fair! This is hard!" Joey yelled. "Well, I wasn't going to make it so easy you could do it, Mr. Wheeler." the teacher told him, sitting back on his desk, twirling the chalk between his fingers.

Joey just sat back in his seat, mumbling to himself about how the teacher was evil. Meanwhile, Ryou's eyes went to Kina. _He just had to pull the hardest problem of the year on us the day Kina came here. Wait a minute- _He looked over at her and it almost looked like she was scanning the problem with her eyes. After a minute or so, she raised her hand.

"What is it Kina?" the teacher asked, almost seeming bored. "The answer is 6." she stated. All the students stared at her and Mr. Rome dropped his chalk. "What?" he asked. "I said the answer is 6." she stated again, shrinking back into her seat as the students continued staring at her. "Did I get it wrong?" she asked him. "No, that's right. But how did you figure it out? Did you have help?" he questioned her. Not believing that someone who has never been to school before could figure out something this complex. "Um, no." she answered. "Prove it." he told her.

"What?" She was confused as to what he wanted her to do. "Come up to the board and write out how you did it to prove you weren't cheating." he told her matter-of-factly. "Ok." She walked up to him, took the chalk from his hand, and began writing on the free half of the board. She had almost covered the entire thing when she stopped suddenly. "Did you get stuck?" the teacher asked, smirking at her.

"No, I ran out of chalk." she said. The smirk fell off his face and he absentmindedly handed her another piece from the box on his desk. She turned back to the board and finished up the last part of the problem and then walked back to her seat. Just as she got there, the bell rang. "Uh, no homework for the week." the teacher mumbled as the students walked past him. He was still shocked that Kina was able to figure it out.

Everyone went back to their lockers and got out their lunches. Yugi-tachi met Ryou at his locker and started asking him questions. "Hey Ryou, I thought you said she had never been to school before." Joey asked him. "She hasn't." he replied, not lifting his head out of his locker. "Then what was that stunt she pulled in math?" he asked. "Well, I guess she's really smart." Ryou said. "Yeah she is. I couldn't have figured that out." Joey continued. "Yeah we all knew you couldn't figure it out." Tristan said.

"Hey! Watch it!" Joey yelled. Yugi was staring at Kina as she came over to Ryou. "Hey Kina." he said to her. "Oh, hey Yugi." she replied. "We were going to have lunch outside; do you guys want to join us?" Ryou asked them. "Sure." they replied. They all walked outside and Kina and Ryou sat down under the tree. Joey, Tristan, Yugi and Tea sat at the table, Malik and Yami sat against the wall of the school and Duke sat on the front lawn.

They all opened their lunchboxes and started eating. Most of them just had a sandwich, a snack, and something to drink. Ryou opened his lunchbox and found a small container that contained a vegetable stir-fry, rice, and some noodles. (A/N: Think those little containers they have for lunch in Japan that have the rice and the little foods in them.) He also found a pair of chopsticks, a chocolate chip cookie and some hot green tea. He looked over at Kina and she was sitting there, eating nothing but a carrot. (A/N: Like those ones under the sprayer thingy at the grocery store. They have the green leafy thingys still attached.) _She made me this wonderful lunch and she's sitting there eating a carrot. A carrot? She has to have more than that._

Everyone stopped eating and stared at Ryou's lunch. "What?" he asked them as he noticed them staring. "What's with packing the fancy lunch Ryou? You usually just have PB&J." Malik asked him. "Oh, I didn't make this. Kina did." he replied. Everyone turned their stares towards her. She saw them staring and gave them a 'why are you looking at me for? Did I do something wrong?' look.

"Wow. You're a great cook Kina." Yami commented. "Thanks" she replied and then went back to eating her carrot. Ryou walked over to her and sat down next to her. "Do you want part of my lunch?" he asked her. "No thanks." she replied as she began to eat the leaves. He gave her a quizzical look. "So, you're just going to sit there and eat a carrot while I eat the lunch you obviously worked hard to make me?" he asked. She nodded her head yes, not bothering to look up as she finished her carrot. "I hope you like it." she said as she walked off towards Duke.

Ryou just stared after her, and then continued eating his lunch. Kina walked over to Duke and sat down next to him. "Hi" she said. He looked up from his lunch and saw her sitting there. "Hey Kina. You finished your lunch already?" he asked. "Yeah. I had a carrot" she replied. "You should have more than that you know." he told her. "I'm fine." she assured him.

"How have you been?" he asked her. "Well, um, ok I guess." she said. "What about you?" she asked. "I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about." he replied. "Don't worry, I'm fine. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to make Ryou lunch." she said. They both turned their heads towards Ryou who was having trouble figuring out how to use chopsticks. She laughed a little bit at his attempt to try and hold them. Duke looked at her and warned her. "You need to be careful; he's going to figure it out."

"Don't worry about it. He won't figure it out." she said to him. "You can't just shake like this off like it's nothing. Besides, he noticed your accent this morning." he told her. "Ok, ok, I'll be careful, I promise." she told him. Over at the table, the others were discussing Kina and Duke.

"Of all the people to become friends with I never would have guessed she would pick Duke." Joey said. "Yeah, he's always sitting by himself." Tristan commented. "Well, she maybe she relates to him because she is usually alone." Yugi guessed. "Well, it sure it looks to me like they are more than just friends." Joey said.

"Come on, Joey. They've barely know each other for a day." Malik said. "You always think two people are together if they sit by each other or hang out." "Yeah but remember I was right." Joey retorted. "Once." Tristan said. "Hey don't start that again!" Joey yelled. They started arguing while Kina came back over to where they were sitting.

"I'm going to back to my locker to get my books since it's almost time to go in." she said. "I'll come too." Ryou said. They walked back into the school, followed by the others. They got their books and headed off for Biology.

Biology was pretty boring for most of them, since all they did was take notes on the structure of DNA. After Bio, they headed off to their next class. Kina was separated from them and had English next. "Just go all the way down that hallway and you'll run right into the English room. I'll meet you by the tree out front after school" he told her as he headed off to history.

The English teacher introduced herself as Mrs. Winry and told Kina to sit down in an empty seat. They read about different forms of poetry and they had a homework assignment. They had to write a "Poetry Is…" poem for tomorrow. The bell rang and Kina went to her locker.

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"Hey you guys, have you seen Kina?" Ryou asked them as they came out of the building. "No, why?" Yugi asked. "I told her to meet me under the tree after school, but she wasn't there." Ryou said. "Maybe she's just at her locker." Tristan offered. "No, I checked there too. I can't find her anywhere." he said. "Well, let's look for her. Everybody split up." Yugi said.

They all went off in separate directions looking for her. Duke walked around the back of the school and turned the corner. He saw two of the school's known bullies tossing her schoolbag back and forth so she couldn't get it. When she finally did catch it, they tore it out of her hands and pushed her up against the wall. They started to hit her and hold her down so she couldn't get away.

Duke walked over and tapped one of the guys on the shoulder. When he turned around, Duke punched him hard in the face, sending him to the ground. He looked over at the other guy who had released his grip on Kina, and gave him a you'd-better-run-if-you-don't-want-to-die look. The other guy got scared and ran off.

Duke walked over to Kina and sat down beside her. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Y-yeah I'm fine." she replied. He reached out and tried to help her up but she ended up falling. He looked down and saw that her knee had a large cut and was badly bruised. "Here, I have an idea." he went over and got her school bag and handed it to her. "Hold this." he told her. "Wha-" He leaned down and picked her up into his arms. "What are you doing?" she asked him, as he stood up. "I'm making sure you don't get hurt." he replied.

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Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had gathered in the front of the school. Obviously none of them had seen Kina, and Ryou was getting worried. "Where could she be?" he thought out loud. Just then, they spotted Duke coming around the corner with Kina in his arms. They rushed over to see what had happened.

"Whoa, what happened to you guys?" Joey asked. "I caught two of the bullies messing around with her. They twisted her knee up pretty badly. I don't think she can walk on it. At least not for now." Duke explained. "It's getting pretty late; we should all be getting home soon." Yugi said. "Yeah" they agreed with him.

Everyone went their separate ways, saying they would see each other at school tomorrow. Ryou and Duke went back to Ryou's house together. Duke insisted upon carrying Kina the entire way no matter how much she protested and said she was fine. Anyone could see she wasn't. They went into the house and he set her down on the couch.

Surprisingly, the first thing she did was get her homework out and start working on it. "Would you like something to drink?" Ryou asked Duke as they walked into the kitchen. "No thanks. I'm fine." Duke answered. "That was really nice of you to bring Kina home. Thanks." Ryou said. "I just want to make sure she is ok. She is really going to need some help for a while."

They walked back into the living room and saw Kina, fast asleep on the couch, her homework lying on the floor. "I told her she needed more sleep." Ryou said with a laugh. Duke picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and she started to wake up.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to wake you." he said. "It's ok." she said as she sat up on the bed.

"Well, since you're up…" he said as he went into the bathroom. He came out with a first-aid kit and sat down on the bed beside her. "You really don't have to do this you know." she said.

"Well, I want to make sure you are ok." He cleaned up the cut on her knee and put some gauze around it. Then he took an ACE bandage and wrapped around the gauze. "Here, lay down." She laid down on the bed and Duke took an ice pack from the kit and placed it on her knee. "This will help keep the swelling down but I really think you should have it looked at."

"Thank you so much. You're a big help." Kina said. "No problem. Hey, do you want anything to eat? You really didn't have much of a lunch." he offered, hoping to get her to eat something. "No thanks. I'm not really all that hungry." "Well, I'm going to bring you some water anyway. Please try and get some rest." he told her. "Ok, ok. I'll try." she said.

"Is she ok?" Ryou asked as soon as Duke walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, she'll be fine. She just might need to stay off of her knee for a couple of days. I can't tell whether it's broken of not, but I think she should really have it X-rayed. It looks pretty bad." he explained. "What a way to spend her first day at school." Ryou said with a sigh.

Duke brought her a glass of water, and she soon fell asleep. "I know you found her but what exactly happened?" Ryou asked him. "I came around the corner and saw those guys playing "keep away" with her books. She did manage to get them back, but not for long, they started to hit her and hold her down, that's about when I stepped in. I don't think they will be messing with her again anytime soon." he explained. "Hey Duke?" "Hm?" "Thanks again for what you did. I mean she could have been hurt a lot worse if you didn't help her." Ryou said. "No problem. Just trying to help out." he said.

He left a little bit after 5 PM. _I hope she is going to be alright… _he thought to himself as he walked home.

TBC

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So why do Duke and Kina know each other? Are they more than just friends? And what is the secret they are hiding? (insert dramatic/suspenseful music here)

Well, another chapter done. :sigh: It was a lot longer than I intended and there were probably more twists than you expected, ne? But who minds a little extra reading? People are always commenting to make the chapters longer so here I am. Anyway, please review this chapter. If I get good reviews, I will update soon. Thank you.

Ryou: If you give nice reviews it will make Thorns.and.Tears-san happy!

Bakura: And I should care why?

Ryou: Because she is being nice and including you.

Bakura: But she didn't put me in this chapter.

Ryou: Well, it was centered around school and you don't go to school.

Bakura: So?

Ryou: Ugh. You're giving me a headache. Please review, nice people!


	6. Chapter 6: Recovery

Title: Of Pain and Tears

Rating: T

Genre: Angst/Drama

Summary: When Ryou runs into a mysterious girl, is she all she seems to be or is there more than meets the eye?

Disclaimer: I don't own it, you don't sue me, deal?

Well, not much to say here. Except thank you to all the people who gave me nice reviews! Thank you peoples! Anywho, I have been having serious writers block, but I managed to get this chapter finished. It only took FOREVER! Actually only a couple of days but I usually get a chappy done in just a few hours. For all of you Bakura fans, including myself, I am going to put him in this chapter...somewhere...:cheers and giggles from fan girls: haha. But really, it's kind of hard to fit Bakura into a fic that centers on Ryou and Kina. Why? You may ask. Well, when I came up with this story, originally, I didn't even include him. PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! But I took the time to write him in because of all you crazed fan girls. So anyway, time to get on with the story. (A/N: It may be a bit shorter this time.)

Ryou: Aww. Poor Kina.

Bakura: humph

Ryou: Be nice 'Kura!

Bakura: What did you call me!

Ryou: Umm...

Bakura:growls dangerously: Come here Ryou...

Ryou:runs away:

Bakura: GET BACK HERE:runs after him:

Me:sweatdrop: On with the story.

/hikari to yami/

yami to hikari

_thoughts, sound effects, writing_

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#flashback#

?dream?

Japanese Translations:

Yugi-tachi: Yugi and friends

Daijoubu des ka?-Are you alright?

Hai-Yes

Ano-Um

Wakarimasen-I don't know

Gomen nasai-Sorry (A/N: Gomen means 'sorry' or 'I'm sorry', nasai can be used to mean 'very sorry' or it can be used to talk to a superior. It can be added onto other words also.)

Chapter 6: Recovery

_CRASH CRASH CRASH_

Ryou woke up the next morning to sounds of crashing coming from the closet. _CRASH _He got out of bed and made his way to the closet, still half asleep. He opened the closet door, and saw Kina, sitting on the floor, her jacket on her head, but otherwise dressed in her school uniform. "Good morning." she said nervously as she lifted the corner of the jacket up so she could see Ryou staring at her.

"What were you doing?" he asked, eyes half closed. "I was, uh, getting ready for school. Sorry to wake you. I was trying to be quiet. Really, I was." she replied. "You should be resting. You know you shouldn't be walking on your knee yet. We need to get it X-rayed first." he told her. He gave her a disapproving look and then helped her to her feet. "Thanks." she said.

He helped her to the bed and told her not to move, get up, or do anything else that would put her in a compromising position. Then he walked off to take a shower. _She's going to get herself hurt if she's not careful. She'd better not move before I get back. The last thing she needs is to fall. If her knee isn't broken now, it would be then._

Meanwhile, Kina was sitting on the bed, arguing with herself. _Mrs. Winry will give me detention if I don't finish my poem. But Ryou told me not to move. Maybe if I just get my notebook, he won't mind. But what if he gets mad that I disobeyed him? Oh, why does this have to be so hard? _She laid back on the bed with a 'thud'.

Ryou was just stepping out of the shower when he heard a noise coming from the bedroom. He finished getting dressed and peered through a crack in the door. He saw Kina writing in her notebook she had obviously gotten from her school bag. _She got up and got her bag? Well, maybe her knee is getting better... _He dried his hair and went out into the bedroom.

Kina had just finished her poem and had put her notebook back in her school bag. "It's almost time for us to go to school, I'd better make breakfast." she said quickly, and went to stand up. Ryou took her by the shoulders and sat her back down on the bed. "Correction, it's time for me to go to school. I understand that you really want to go but I don't think you should go with your knee the way it is." he said. "But-" "No buts. I don't want you getting any more hurt than you already are. You are going to stay home from school today."

"But this only my second day and I have already finished my poem for English." she said. Kina really wanted to go to school, but her knee was making difficult for her to get around. "I will take your poem to school and turn it in for you, and bring your homework home. You probably won't be too far behind." Ryou told her.

"What will I do while you are at school?" she asked. "Well, Bakura will be coming over pretty soon. He will take you to get your knee X-rayed. I'll meet you at the hospital after school. Until he gets here, you should probably rest." he explained. "Well, ok." Kina replied.

"Good. I have to get to school right now but I'll see you soon. Here, give me your notebook. I'll take it to Mrs. Winry." he said. Kina handed him her white and blue spiral notebook, but her eyes were downcast. She looked really unhappy. Ryou took her chin in his hand and raised her head so they were at eye level. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. You need to stop worrying." He gave her a quick hug and then went out the door towards the school. _But I have a reason to worry..._she thought as he walked out the door. She curled up under the covers and fell asleep.

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Ryou walked down the sidewalk towards the school and he thought about Kina and the poem she had written for class. He took her notebook out of his school bag and opened it up. _I know she probably wouldn't want me reading this, but I'm really curious about what she wrote. _He flipped it to the first page and saw her poem in neat cursive writing. It read-

_"Poetry Is..."_

_Poetry is like a crystal moon in the cold, black night._

_Like a single flower in a lonely cemetery._

_Like a white rose in a garden of thorns._

_Like a black diary with words of love._

_Like blood pouring from a broken heart. _

_-Kina Miyuki_

(A/N: This is the poem I wrote for my 9th grade English class and I have published it. If you want to use it for something, please ask me first. Thank you.)

_She wrote this? Wow. I didn't know she was this depressed. I hope she is going to be ok until Bakura gets there... _he thought as he went through the school gates.

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Meanwhile, Kina was fast asleep under the navy blue covers of the queen sized bed.

?It was dark outside and Kina was coming back from the park late. She was walking along the sidewalk, humming to herself. She thought she heard someone behind her but when she turned around to look, there was nobody there. _Probably just my nerves, _Kina told herself as she resumed walking. She took a few more steps along the sidewalk and then there was another strange noise. Kina turned around again. Still, nobody was there. _I really do have to relax. It was just the leaves rustling or something. _Even though she didn't see anyone, she still crossed the street to make sure nobody was following her. She made sure there were no cars coming, and crossed the street. She picked up her pace as she began walking up the sidewalk. Kina pulled her sweater closer to her body as the cold wind blew. _I should have worn a jacket. _

There was another noise, this time it sounded more like footsteps. They were getting closer. Much closer. _Ok, that's definitely not my imagination! _She started running down the sidewalk and the footsteps kept getting closer and closer all the time. _I'm never going to lose them at this rate. _She ducked into an alley and ran until she came to a solid brick wall. _Oh no! I'm trapped! _She turned around and saw not one, but three guys approaching her fast. "Hello there 'Kina'." the one in the middle, she presumed to be the leader, said. "Keep away from me!" she told them, shaking a bit. "Oh, but we've been looking for you for a long time. It would be a shame not to have a good time while we're here."

Two of the guys pinned her to the wall while the leader walked closer to her. "Let me go!" she yelled. "I'd advise you not to scream again." he said as he pulled out a knife a put it to her throat. "Just keep still. This won't hurt much. This is the perfect time too. Since he's not here to protect you anymore." he said with a smirk. The cold wind blew through the alley and Kina looked at the leader, tears falling from her eyes.?

Kina sat up in bed, breathing hard. _It was just a dream. Just a dream. _She looked over at the clock. It read 1:24. _Wow. I guess I was more tired then I thought. _She turned her head towards the door as she heard footsteps coming from the living room. _Well, that's not a dream! _She crept out of bed quietly and went over to the closet. Kina opened the doors with a small creak and climbed inside, locking the door behind her. She sat quietly in the back of the closet, hoping not to be discovered.

Meanwhile, Bakura and Marik had just come into the house and they had brought Isis along with them. Bakura figured it would be easier to get Kina to the hospital if they had a car. He looked around the living room and saw that she wasn't there. "Marik, help me find Kina, she has to be around here somewhere." he said as he walked into the kitchen.

Marik walked down the hallway to Ryou's bedroom. _Hmm…she's not still in bed I see. I thought Bakura mentioned that Ryou told her to stay in bed. Oh well. _He felt the bed. _Still warm. She was just here… _He went to the bathroom and peered through the door. Marik saw that nobody was there and then went over towards the closet. _I know where she is…_

_Oh, no! _Kina thought as the footsteps got closer. _They're going to find me! _Marik opened up both closet doors and yelled "**BOO**!"

_WHAM! _

(hehe. cliffy.)

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_Marik sure is taking his good old time. What's he up to? _Bakura walked down the hallway into Ryou's bedroom and saw Marik sitting on the floor in front of the closet, holding his right cheek, which was bleeding. "You **_dare _**to hit me!" Marik yelled as he jumped forward towards Kina. Luckily, Bakura caught him first. "What is going on here!" Bakura asked them. He looked inside the closet and saw Kina curled up in a ball, her eyes as wide as flying saucers. "What did you do to her?" He asked Marik who was now in the bathroom, cleaning his wound.

"All I did was say 'boo', she's the one that hit me." He said exiting the bathroom, a piece of gauze across his cheek. "You probably scared her Marik. Geez, you don't just walk up to people and yell 'boo'." he explained as he tried to help Kina out of the closet. She wouldn't move. She was too scared. "Well, actually I do." Marik answered.

"Why were you in the closet anyway Kina?" he asked her. "I heard people. In the house." she replied. "And you hit Marik because he scared you?" he asked. She nodded her head yes. "See Marik, she didn't mean it." he explained. "Humph." "Kina, this is Malik's yami, Marik. Now, you need to come with us." he said, holding his hand out to her.

She shook her head no and backed up further into the closet. "But we're just here to help." he said. "No!" "Come on Bakura, just grab her and we'll go. Isis is waiting." Marik said, lounging on the bed. "No, Ryou wouldn't want me to do that. She's obviously not going to come with us." he said.

Bakura walked out of the closet into the hallway, making sure to take Marik with him. He dialed Ryou's cell phone number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" Ryou's voice came over the phone.

"Hey Ryou." Bakura said.

"Bakura? Why are you calling me?"

"Well, um, your friend Kina is kind of stuck…"

"Stuck? Stuck how?" he questioned

"Well, Isis and Marik and I came over and-" he started.

"Whoa, wait a minute, you brought MARIK with you!" he practically yelled into Bakura's ear.

"Well, Isis didn't want to leave him at home alone…again. Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Images of explosions and burning appliances flashed through Ryou's mind. "Don't remind me."

"Anyway, we came over and Marik went to check in the bedroom. He opened up the closet doors and yelled 'boo' at her. I guess it really scared her. Well, enough for her to smack him hard enough to open his cheek. I think I like this friend of yours. Anyway, to make a long story short, she won't come out of the closet." Bakura explained, while Marik was complaining in the background about how he was hit by a girl.

"Ok, then, I'll be right there. I'll just tell my teachers I have to leave early. See you in a bit" Ryou said.

"Bye" Bakura said as he hung up the phone.

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He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. "Hey Ryou, what was that about?" Joey asked eagerly. "Long story short: Marik freaked Kina out, she hit him, he got mad, but Bakura settled him down, but now Kina won't come out of the closet, so I have to go get her to move." :deep breath: They stared at him in disbelief.

"Wait, you said my yami was there? That was not a good idea." Malik said. "Well Isis didn't want to leave him home alone. He might have blown something up…again." Ryou said. "Now I have to go home and fix this." he said as he started to walk away.

"Wait, I'm coming with you. It's probably going to take more than one person to get her to move. Besides, we can get there faster by car." Duke said. "You sure? You'd be missing the rest of the day." Ryou asked. "No, it's ok." Duke replied. They said goodbye to the rest of the gang and then they headed over to Duke's car in the school parking lot. They got in the dark green sports car and drove off towards Ryou's house.

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As they approached the house they could hear shouts coming from inside. "Well, that can't be good." Ryou said as he opened the front door. "I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE WOULD DO THAT TO ME!" Marik yelled. "SHUT UP MARIK! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT WE'RE STUCK HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Bakura yelled back. "Um, hi." Ryou said cautiously as he walked into the living room. "Thank Ra you're here! I can't take anymore of Marik's whining!" Bakura said as he turned to face Ryou. "I was not whining!"

"Yes you were!" Bakura yelled.

"Was not!" Marik yelled back at him

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

Duke and Ryou looked at them, then looked at each other then looked back at Marik and Bakura. "Uh, Ryou, why don't you help them settle this. I mean, Bakura is your yami." Duke said. "Ok, you go find Kina and see what's up. I bet she's still in that closet, judging by all the screaming these two have been doing." Ryou told him. "Ok."

Duke walked down the hallway to the bedroom and opened the door slowly. "Kina? Are you in here?" he asked. A faint noise could be heard coming from the closet. He walked over and opened up the closet doors. Kina was still sitting in the back corner of the closet, curled up into a ball. She looked more scared than ever. _All thanks to Marik I suppose…_ Duke thought as he knelt down beside her. "Daijoubu des ka?" he asked her. "Hai." she replied. "What happened?" "Ano…well, I heard footsteps so I went into the closet. Then Marik came and found me, he yelled 'boo'" It scared me so I hit him….but I didn't mean to! I hope he isn't hurt… Then they started yelling, so I just stayed here." she explained.

"Ok. Well, I think we should get you out of here. Can you walk?" he asked as he took her hand. "Wakarimasen….gomen nasai…" "Here, I'll help. Ready?" he asked. She nodded her head yes and he picked her up. He carried her out of the closet and set her on the bed. "I think we should stay here and wait for Ryou for now. He's trying to get Bakura and Marik to settle down." Duke said."

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"Bye Bakura!" Ryou called as Bakura and Marik piled into the car with Isis and drove back to the Ishtar residence, still bickering. _Those two will never learn… _he thought to himself. _I wonder how Kina is doing… _He straightened up the living room a bit, and walked down the hallway. Ryou walked into the bedroom and saw Duke on the bed with Kina in his arms… "Sleeping?" he asked as he walked in. "Yeah, I guess she was still tired." Duke replied.

"Oh, well. She might as well sleep. School is already over and we are never going to get her to go anywhere today." Ryou said as he walked over and sat down on the bed. "While we're all here I might as well make something to eat. We left school before lunch time and I'm pretty sure Kina hasn't had anything to eat either." "Well, ok." "What do you like?" Ryou asked "I'll just have whatever you guys like. I know you are a vegetarian and Kina is a vegan but that's ok. I never eat enough vegetables anyway." Duke said. "How did you know Kina is a vegan?" Ryou asked.

"Lucky guess." he replied. "Oh, ok. Well, I'll find something in this empty house to make." Ryou said. He got up off the bed and walked down the hall towards the kitchen. He padded across the linoleum tiles and went to the refrigerator door. Ryou opened it up and saw that there wasn't much food in there. He looked in the cupboards too, not much there either. _I really should go to the grocery store more often. _he thought as he tried to figure out what he could possibly make for the three of them with practically nothing in the kitchen. He sat down on one of the stools near the counter and thought about it.

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Kina stirred in Duke's arms and yawned as she woke up. "Finally decided to wake up?" Duke joked with her as she climbed out of his lap and sat down on the bed beside him. "Yeah. What time is it?" she asked. "About 4:00 right now." he replied as he looked over at the clock. "I've been asleep for that long?" "I guess you were just really tired." "Where's Ryou at?" she asked, looking around. "Oh, he said he is going to make something to eat since none of us have had lunch yet." he told her. "But that is my job. He shouldn't have to do that." she said. She slid off the bed and went to go help Ryou. "I don't want you to get hurt. You should stay here." Duke said as he tried to stop her. "I'll go help him, you stay here."

"But-" "No. You are going to stay here. The last thing you need to do is overwork yourself." He set her back on the bed and went to leave, when he turned around. "Don't move." he told her. "Yes mom." she mocked as he went out the door. "Hey!" "Ok, ok. I'll stay put." "Good. We'll be in soon." he said as he left to help Ryou with 'dinner'.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Ryou sitting on stool, staring at the refrigerator. "Looks like you need some help." "Oh, hey Duke. I can't figure anything out to cook since I haven't gone to the grocery store forever." he said. "How is Kina doing?" "Well, she is ok, but insisted upon cooking the meal herself so I said she should stay put and I would help out instead." Duke said "Ok. Well, I need to figure out something to make. There's almost nothing here. Sorry." "Hmm…" Duke walked over to the refrigerator and looked inside. There was a carton of milk, 2 sticks of butter, a jar of olives, some carrots, half a cucumber, and a package of seaweed. He closed the refrigerator door and walked to the cupboards and opened the doors. Sitting on the shelf was two boxes of spiral noodles, a box of crackers, a half-empty bottle of cooking oil, a bottle of rice wine vinegar, a bag of white rice, and some assorted spices.

"I told you I didn't have a lot. Sorry." Ryou said as Duke turned around to face him. "I can work with this." Duke said as he walked to the counter. "What?" "It's not much but I can make something with what you've got." "Uh…" "You should go sit down. I'll take care of this." He said as he began taking things out and setting them out on the counter. "But I wouldn't want you to have to do all of it by yourself." Ryou said.

"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered. You relax." Duke told him. "Ok then. I'm going to get changed if you're sure you've got everything under control." "I've got it" "Ok." Ryou walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. _Duke doesn't have to do this. I mean, he is the guest. I still don't understand how he can make something out of what I've got. _He rounded the corner and went into the bedroom.

"Hi Ryou!" Kina called out as soon as he walked in. "Hey Kina. How are you doing?" he asked. "I'm ok. Sorry I made you leave school early. I know you hate to miss class." she said. "Don't worry about it. It's ok. I'm going to go get changed, I'll be right back." "Ok." Ryou walked over to the dresser and pulled out a T-shirt and some jeans and went into the bathroom to change. He came out and sat down on the bed next to Kina. They talked for a few minutes and then decided to go back out to the living room to check on Duke. "You sure you can walk?" he asked her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They walked back out to the living room, although a bit slower because of Kina, and sat down on the couch. _DING DONG! _"I'll get it." Ryou called and went over to the door. He opened it and he saw Yugi, Yami, Tea, Tristan, Joey and Malik standing there. "Oh, hey you guys." Ryou said. "Come on in." They came inside and Ryou shut the door behind them. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked them.

"Well, we thought something was up when you guys didn't come back to school, so we decided to come over and check it out." Yugi replied. "Yeah, how's Kina doing?" Tristan asked. "I'm good!" Kina said, popping her head up from behind the sofa. "Hey there Kina." Tea said. They all went into the living room and sat down. "Hey, where's Duke at?" Joey asked. Just then, Duke ducked his head around the corner from the kitchen. "Hey I didn't know I had more people to cook for." he said jokingly. "Haha. You, cooking? That's hilarious!" Joey said.

Duke glared and threw a piece of rice at him, only causing Joey to laugh harder. "That didn't hurt." Duke threw a spoon at him and retreated back into the kitchen. "Ow! That hurt!" Joey yelled as the spoon neatly smacked him on the forehead. "Aw, calm down Joey." Tristan said, trying hard not to laugh at what had just taken place.

About 20 minutes later, Duke emerged from the kitchen with a huge bowl of something, a big bowl of rice and 8 glasses of water. "What did you make?" Yugi asked. "Oh, just some noodles sautéed in 1 part oil, 2 parts rice wine vinegar with some diced cucumbers and carrots and some assorted spices mixed in. There's also some rice on the side and water is the only thing I could think of to drink unless anybody wants milk." he replied, sitting down. "Wow. This is really good, Duke." Yugi said, taking a bite.

"Thanks." he replied. "Aren't you going to eat any?" Ryou asked him as everybody else started eating. "No. I already had some. I'm fine." he told them. "Ok then." Ryou replied.

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Once everybody had finished their meal, they talked for a little bit and then left. Ryou was in the kitchen doing dishes and Duke took Kina back to the bedroom. He sat down and pulled her up on his lap. "You didn't eat much tonight. Are you feeling alright?" he asked her. "Yeah, I'm fine." she said. "Are you sure?" "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little tired…" she said. As if to punctuate her statement, she yawned. "I guess you are tired." Duke said. She curled up on his chest and went to sleep. _She definitely has grown since the last time I saw her. I hope she is ok though. She hasn't been eating much and she is way too thin. She has to be more careful around Ryou too. He's going to figure it out if she is too obvious… _he thought to himself as he ran his fingers through her long, white hair.

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"All done." Ryou said as he finished up the last dish. He put them all away in the cupboard and walked out of the kitchen. _I wonder how Kina is doing. She looked pretty tired. _He walked down the hallway and into the bedroom. "She fell asleep again?" he asked Duke as he sat down on the bed. "Yeah. She probably too tired because she doesn't eat enough." "Well, it seems you aren't going to be going anywhere soon unless you wake her up." Ryou said. "I really don't want to wake her, although I will have to eventually I suppose. I don't mind her staying like this though. It doesn't bother me at all." Duke said.

"Well, by the time she wakes up, it will be dark." He looked out the window at the quickly darkening sky. "Darker anyway. You might as well stay the night." Ryou offered. "Are you sure? I mean, I have been here all day." Duke said. "I don't mind, really. You can take the couch if you'd like. But I'm not making you stay. If you'd rather go home, that's ok too." Ryou said.

"Ok then, I'll take the couch if you're sure you're ok with this." "Don't worry about it." Ryou reassured him. "You should probably wake her before she goes into a deeper sleep." "Ok." "Duke gently shook Kina awake. She stirred and slowly opened her eyes. "Hmm?" she asked as she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "You have to wake up, Kina." Ryou told her. "But why?" she asked. "Because you can't keep using me as a pillow." Duke joked with her. "Oh, sorry." she said quickly as she slid off his lap and sat next to him. She blushed a light shade of red and played with hem of her shirt.

"Don't worry about it." he said as he got off the bed and stood up. "We should probably all go to sleep. It's getting late." Ryou suggested. "Ok." Kina said. "I'll get some blankets and pillows from the hall closet." he said. Kina gave him a confused look. "Duke is staying the night since it's already pretty dark outside." Ryou told her. "Really?" He nodded his head yes. "Cool!" she said.

Ryou and Duke walked down the hall and Ryou stopped to get some blankets out of the hall closet. "Thanks for letting me stay." Duke said as they walked into the living room. "No problem." Ryou replied. They took the pillows off of the couch and pulled the bottom out into a bed. Duke set the pillows and blankets on top and sat down.

"You're going to sleep in your clothes?" Ryou asked him. "Sure. I don't mind. I usually fall asleep in my clothes anyway." Duke replied. "You could borrow some of my pajamas, you know." Ryou offered. "No thanks. I'm fine." "Ok then. Goodnight Duke." "Goodnight Ryou." Duke fixed the covers and pillows just the way he wanted them and then laid down and went to sleep. Ryou walked down the hall and back into the bedroom. He saw Kina already fast asleep under the covers. _She is so cute when she is sleeping. _He went to the bathroom to get changed into his night clothes and then slid under the covers next to her. He rolled over next to her and went to sleep.

TBC

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FINALLY! That chapter took forever to write! Well, I did have the time considering that almost nobody reviewed the last couple of chapters. TT :sniff: I bet you are all curious about how Kina and Duke know each other, right? Well, I'm not going to play this out in real time, since when I originally wrote it, it took yugi-tachi about a year or two to figure out what the connection was. I'll probably speed it up a little, but I don't want to write it like "And they all went to bed. One year later…" I don't really like it when people do that. I may skip a few days or a few weeks though if nothing important is going to happen. I also decided that if I don't get at least 3 reviews I won't update. It's not like me to be like this but not a lot of people have reviewed so far. Reviews equal happy authoress, happy authoress equals faster updates. Plus, it makes me really happy when people review! And I need some happy.

Ryou: Why didn't you let me read the disclaimer this time? I like reading the disclaimer.

Me: Because you were busy.

Ryou: Oh yeah.

Me: Wait, where's Bakura?

Ryou: Oh, him. Well, he was chasing me down the street but then he saw a squirrel.

Me: That can't be good.

Ryou: Don't worry. I don't think it will bite him.

Me: I meant for the squirrel.

Ryou: Oh. :sweatdrop:

Me: I'd better go find him. Ja ne!

(Another note, if you still haven't been able to picture what Kina looks like, then go to my live journal, entry for Nov. 5(second one). You will find a link to my lj on my profile. I have a picture posted that looks pretty much like my character. Hope you like! -Kina(me))


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